More Links

Hartford Snaps Two-Game Skid, Tops Bobcats

from press release

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.
– The University of Hartford men’s lacrosse
team snapped a two-game skid on Saturday with a 15-12 defeat of its
intrastate rivals, the Quinnipiac Bobcats, at Alumni Stadium. Eight
different players reached the back of the net for the Hawks, who
never trailed in the contest, led by senior Carter
Bender’s four tallies.

Hartford, which improves to 2-5 on the season, will take on another
Nutmeg State foe on Wednesday when it heads to Fairfield to take on
the Sacred Heart Pioneers at 3:00 p.m.

Bender, who finished with a team-best five points, recorded his
second-straight four-goal game and third hat trick of the season.
Joining the senior with multi-goal outings was Ryan
Compitello, Aidan Genik, Rory
Nunamacher and Kevin O'Shea who
each found the back of the net twice.

The first two quarters were dominated by the Hawks as they scored
the first five goals of the game and went on to take a commanding
6-1 edge at the end of the opening period. During that first 15
minutes, Hartford was nearly flawless and limited
Quinnipiac’s offensive possessions, outshooting its
opposition 15-4 while going 8-of-8 at the face-off X.

Junior Jared Franze got the scoring going for
the Hawks with an unassisted score at 11:41 and
senior Martin Bowes followed suit and made it
2-0 at the 8:08 mark. Hartford wasted little time to get its third
tally on the scoreboard as just two seconds later, Bender hooked up
with freshman Ty Schuldt out of the ensuing
face-off.

The senior attackman would go back-to-back for the Hawks to push
their lead to 4-0 with 6:54 remaining in the first before linemate
Compitello struck with his first of two goals on the afternoon less
than one minute later to extend the home team’s advantage to
5-0.

Quinnipiac’s Dylan Webster managed to sneak its first goal
past Hartford keeper Scott Bement, who finished
with 10 saves on the afternoon, at the 3:40 mark but the Hawks
regained their five point edge at 6-1 with just 10 seconds left in
the first quarter when sophomore John
Quinn, who notched a pair of assists, earned his first
point as a collegian after providing the feed on
Compitello’s eighth goal of the season.

The momentum continued to move in favor of the home team in the
second quarter as they outscored the Bobcats, 4-2, despite holding
an 11-7 disadvantage in shots during that span.

Brandon Kuring opened up the quarter with an unassisted score to
cut his team’s deficit to four (6-2) however the Hawks
rattled off three-straight scores within an 89 second spurt to take
a seven-goal lead at 9-2 with 6:14 to go. The rally was sparked by
Genik at 7:43 and O’Shea put the finishing touches on the
run, going back-to-back at 6:32 and 6:14 to provide Hartford with
its largest lead of the game.

The two teams exchanged goals down the stretch and Hartford held on
to its seven goal edge with a halftime margin of 10-3.

Quinnipiac made things interesting in the second half as it
outscored Hartford, 9-5, and closed the gap to just two points with
nearly a full quarter left to play.

Four unanswered goals by the Bobcats out of the halftime break cut
their deficit to three at 10-7 with 8:52 to go before Genik and
Bender ended Hartford’s scoring drought when they delivered
two goals within a span of 18 seconds to push their team’s
lead to 12-7.

After the visitors closed out the third quarter with a goal,
Quinnipiac opened the fourth quarter with another run, this time
netting two tallies 46 seconds apart from each other to make it a
two point contest, 12-10, with 13:04 remaining in regulation.

The Hawks answered again and cushioned their lead at 14-10 with a
pair of goals by Bender and Rory
Nunamacher. Garrett Dollard, a freshman
midfielder, put the icing on the cake with 6:30 to go, as his
fourth goal of the season gave the Hawks a five point edge and put
the game out of reach of Quinnipiac.

Kuring paced the Bobcats’ offense with six points on four
goals and a pair of assists. In goal, Dylan Torey made nine
saves.

The Hawks finished with a 19-of-30 edge at the face-off X, led by
Schuldt’s 18-of-28 effort. The rookie finished with six
ground balls, a game-high number.